Posted on 03/29/2009 2:19:21 AM PDT by pobeda1945
NEW DELHI: For the second time in a month, the Block II version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile with a striking range of 290 km, successfully hit its target during a test at the Pokhran firing range on Sunday, DRDO officials said. "The missile was successfully launched at 1115 hours in the morning and in the next two-and-a-half minutes, it hit the bull's eye in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan," an official said.
This was the third test-firing of the latest Block II version of the missile.
During the test, Army's Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General A S Sekhon, Artillery School Commandant Lt Gen Rao and Additional Director General (Artillery) Major General V K Tiwari were present. The launch of the latest land attack version of the missile being developed for the Army was also witnessed by DRDO's chief controller and BrahMos aerospace chairman A Sivathanu Pillai and DRDL director P Venugopalan.
After Sunday's test, officials said the development phase of the Block II version of the missile was over and it was ready for induction in the Army. They said the mission objectives of the test were completely fulfilled.
The third trial of the missile has come at a time when the Army has not yet come out with its findings about the analysis of the flight and the mission of the March 4 test, when the missile hit its target from a distance of around 90 kms at the Pokharan test firing range.
In the first test on January 20, the missile failed to hit its target due to glitches in the homing device of the missile. The missile had taken off successfully but deviated from its path in mid-course and landed far away from its target. Sources said the defects were rectified at the time of the last test when it went on to hit the target.
They said that the "unique" technology in the Block II missiles made them "unparalleled" and would help the armed forces hit even "insignificant targets" hidden in cluster of buildings.
"The new seeker is unique and would help us to hit our targets, which are insignificant in terms of size, in a cluster of large buildings. India is now the only nation in the world with this advanced technology," an official claimed.
DRDO officials claimed that BrahMos would be able to start deliveries of the 240 missiles ordered by the Army in two years from now as per the original schedule. The Army has already inducted one regiment of the Block I version of the missile. BrahMos is an Indo-Russian joint venture company with its headquarters in Delhi.
http://www.zshare.net/video/53995633dc19529f/
The video above shows a kinetic energy mode test, where no explosives are used. That is what the officer is referring to, in the article, about using the weapon on specific, relatively small targets like individual buildings or bunkers.
The wiki adds a bit more detail and some additional photos.
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.
The acronym BrahMos is perceived as the confluence of the two nations represented by two great rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. At speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, it is the world’s fastest cruise missile and is about three and a half times faster than the U.S.A’s subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. A hypersonic version of the missile is also presently under development (Lab Tested with 5.26 Mach Speed).[2]
Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile, namely P-700 Granit, instead Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with MTCR restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian Yakhont missile, and guidance has been developed by BrahMos Corp
Russians make some pretty impressive stuff. Whether it is practical or works under combat conditions is another question, but the Indian’s may have enough input to help that out,,, or not. Still, the speed is impressive.
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